A case study of the emerging social work sector in Guinea, West Africa

ABSTRACT

A coastal country in West Africa, Guinea, is home to 13 million people and ranks 175 out of 189 countries on the UN’s Human Development Index. While the majority of West African nations have a recognized social work sector, Guinea has only a small number of trained social workers. In response to the Ebola epidemic, there is increased governmental interest in developing a sector of university-educated social workers to address the complex social issues the country faces. Using data gathered through a Fulbright research grant, this case study communicates the most recent developments in professionalizing social work in Guinea and considers them through a framework of transmission, indigenization, and authentication. This includes the redevelopment of a tertiary level social work training programme new national policy to employ social workers in the public service, and the expansion of professional social work organizations to support the creation of a professional social work sector.

KEYWORDS:

• Social Work Education
• African Social Work
• Indigenous Social Work
• Social Work Professionalisation

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the staff of Jean Paul II Hospital’s National Centre for Applied Social Training and ANAS-Guinée for their support of this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The Facebook site is free or reduced to access via common internet providers in Guinea. As such, it is a very popular and accessible platform for information dissemination across the literate population.

Additional information

Funding

The fieldwork for this case study was funded by a 2018/2019 Fulbright US Scholar Program Grant [8033-GV], Social Work Specialization.

Notes on contributors

Marissa Kaloga

Dr. Marissa Kaloga is a Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Otago in Aotearoa New Zealand, and Director of STARlab (Systems Transformation Action Research Lab).

Abdoul Karim Camara

Mr. Abdoul Karim Camara is a practicing social worker at SOS Villages d'Enfants in Guinea. he is also the President of a social work professional organization in Guinea, ANAS-Guinee.